The wagon suddenly lurches as you approach, as if something big has thrown itself against the inside wall. You hear the cracking of wood, the scraping of metal, and the snarl of something inhuman. Upon closer inspection, you see that the sides of the wagon are splattered with dried blood. You also see an inscription on the wagon's door frame that reads, "I bring you from Shadow into Light!"
The colorful half-elf bard Rictavio paid Gunther and Yelena a generous amount of gold to watch his carnival wagon, no questions asked. He carries the key to the wagon door. The lock can be picked, but is rigged with a
poison needle trap. When the trap is triggered, the needle extends 3 inches straight out from the lock. A creature within range takes 1 piercing damage and 11 (2d10) poison damage, and must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 hour. A successful DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation) check allows a character to deduce the trap’s presence from alterations made to the lock to accommodate the needle. A successful DC 15 Dexterity check using thieves’ tools disarms the trap, removing the needle from the lock. Unsuccessfully attempting to pick the lock triggers the trap.
Inside the wagon is a sabor-toothed tiger with 84 hit points. It is clad in specially fitted half-plate (AC 17) and has been trained to hunt Vistani. This tiger has a challenge rating of 3. Rictavio feeds the tiger wolf steaks he buys from the inn, which he lowers down a 1-foot-square hatch in the wagon's roof. A character standing on the roof of the wagon can easily see the hatch. The hatch is locked, but can be unlocked with a successful DC 10 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check. The wagon also contains the torn-up remains of a doll. A successful DC 10 (Intelligence) check discovers that the doll was once a colorfully-dressed Vistana effigy, with the slogan "Is No Fun, Is No Blinsky!" embroidered onto its back.
If the tiger is released, it begins stalking through the streets until it locates either Rictavio or Piccolo. It doesn't attack anyone who isn't a Vistana except in self-defense, but will attack a Vistana on sight. Rictavio is able to make the tiger break off any of its attacks, and lure it back to the wagon.
Treasure
The front seat of the wagon conceals a compartment that requires a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) or DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation) check to find. It opens easily and is not locked. It contains:
- An unlocked wooden coffer containing 50 ep in Barovian coin, 20 sp in standard coin, and six gemstones worth 100 gp each
- A small prayer book (worth 50 gp) with a green leather cover and indecipherable notes in the margins. The characters do not recognize the gods desscribed within
- A healer's kit
- Three wooden holy symbols inlaid with silver in the shapes of sunbursts (worth 50 gp each)
- A silvered shortsword
- A hand crossbow inlaid with mother-of-pearl with the initials E.V.R. burnt into the handle (worth 250 gp)
- A bundle of twenty silvered crossbow bolts
- A worn leather case with gold buckles (worth 100 gp) containing three sharpened wooden stakes, a sack of garlic, a jar of salt, a polished steel mirror, and a bone scroll tube with a silver stopper and chain (worth 25 gp.) The tube contains a spell scroll of protection from undead
Fortunes of Ravenloft
If your card reading revealed that a treasure is here, it is within the front seat compartment in a lead-linded wooden box.
